Omaha daily bee., 1887-05-30
LoNDoN'S ROTTEN ROW.
A Brief Description OF the Famous
Fashionable Drive.

rage containing the royal lauy VINO rep
rcscnts the might and majesty of Eng
land. You may have frequcnted the ride
for quarter of century and more with.
out witnessing such a spectacle as that OF
only last season, when her majesty
startled such of the licgcs as were
gathered together in the vicinity of "Ihe
Row" by driving slowly down it, The
unwritten law of fashion prescribes
the hours when, and when only, it is
good form to take exercise in Rotten
Row. These times are from II to and
from up to the dinner hour. There are,
of course. many men, chiefly of the pro-
fcsslonal and official classes, together
with a fair sprnkling of city magnates,
who, under such a draconian code would
never have an opportunity OF riding at
all, were they not to make virtue of
necessity by rising with the lark and tax.
ing the saddle at an hour when the ma.
iorlty of those composing the
! to to 10 10 The % ROW is the 9'pi happy riding '
ground of the brain workers, who find
the promenade cheval in the sweet
morning breeze the best prcparative for
the days toll. Stroll into the park at
this time and you will see among 'the
liver brigade" one or other of the cmi
nent gentlemen who in a couple of
hours from now will be clad in the ju-
dicial erminc, and engaged, with or with
out the assistance of twelve "honcst men
and true, in trying that right of way
in which you may, perchance, be filling
the roll of plaintiff or defendant. Very
mld of countenance and bland of de-
meanor is Rhadamanthus as you see him
I'm the pigskin,' or may be on foot, CIV
ing his dogs run, and chatting over the
railing with the hardly less eminent
SILK who will more than have earned
the big fee marked on his plethorlc brief
this side of sunset. They are in deep
"confab' discussing that fine
point which cropped up in Court KIN
the day before yesterday, or expressing
their surprise that the highly intelligent
jury should have found for the plaintiff
IN the great case of "Nokcs VS. Stiles"
when the balance of testimony was so
decidedly in favor of the unfortunate de-
fendant. Saunterlng slowly past these
prised to hear such phrases us Great
Raddlngton handicap Nothing can
beat Tam OShanter,' and other
scraps of conversation familiar to
those who take delight in hppic
contests; and by these signs and
tokens you become aware that the erudite
dispenser of justice and the acute q. G.
are thinking for the moment of anything
but the cause celebre of the hour but are
ter being clicked" by that crank out
slider" yclept Highland Fling. Modern
doctors are not. os a rule given to equcs-
trian "gallvanting,' but here, amicaoly,
riding by the side of a renowned iinan-
cier, is a popular medico, whose greatest
anxiety seems to be to ascertain his mon
eyed friends opinion of the new play
which, in common with "all London"
they had both witnessed the previous
iTrt,t Th, hr
"thc house only when Big Benz was
mournfully proclaiming the hour of 2;
the noble lord, who gave it to- the
government so unsparingly last night,
to the unconcealcd delight of all the other
noble lords who sit on the same side of
the gllded chamber as himself (they form
her majesty's opposition at the present
moment); the permanent under secretary,
who has uncOncernedly seen ministers
on placidly discharging his duties and
drawing his salary now under tory and
now under liberal governments; the
great artist who has painted everybody's
portrait and grown wealthy by iiattering
the vanity of Crnsus and Crnsus' wife
and their belongings; the journalist, the
author, even the literary hack-all are
here, in Rotten Row, this glorious spring
morning, mounted on every description of
bratcd mart a stones throw from "The
Corner"
Ere the clock at the Cavalry Barracks
garden had chimed 10 the "celcbrities'
had vanished; for the next hour or so the
children and their ponies have it all to
themselves, and it is noon before The
Row" enters upon its next phase. In
ers, cousins or swecthearts, or followed
by natty groOms, for the most part ad
mirably mounted. come the legion of
Amazons, who find in the ride an en-
chanted land where. within reasonable
limits, they can do as they please and say
what they like without the slightest fear
of cncountcring papa's awful frown or
mammals unmistakable glance of diSap-
proval and warning. The ''cowl,' it may
but riding habits certainly makes the
equestrienne. In the badly cut habit
the prettiest girl looks dowdy; let the
riding garb be we'll fashioned, and the
wide world can not produce more per-
feet picture of q young Englshw oman
disporting herself in what by common
consent, is adjudged TO be the most de-
lightful riding ground in Europe. AS
gate, or walks her horse under the trees
at 'The Corner" end of the park, her
face aglow, her eyes sparkling with the
excitement of the exercise, what wonder
that the grandest danes who divide the
year between their homes in Paris and
their lodgings in London and their villas
on the Mediterranean constrain their
mankind to regard this "jolie mecs"
and that ''ravissante dcmoiselle" the
while the beautious object of all this
genuine idolatry distribute smiles and
blow kisses to their friends in the
crowded path from whence baby, her
perambulator, and her nurse are rigor-
ously baD,shed at the fashionable hour?
The Row. is again desert,a yeritabe
Sahara, from until A, when, If the season
be tolerably advanced and the weather
fine, it becomes more crowded than ever.
While the dowagers are being driven at
snaila pace up and down the Ladies'
mile" their daughters and their daugh-
ters' friends are having q good time"
in the now densely-packed ride, talking
over last nights dance and to,night's
"at home" hearing the latest titt!c.tattle
and retailing those choice bits of gossip
whercwith society loves to regale 1t.
self Those "in the princes set" and
those who are not, but would like to be
OF the royal cotere, lnger on and on in
the hope of seeing IL. X. H., mounted on
l.;